The Eye of Patrick

Since coming to Japan I have tried to explore the area around my town. Each time it seems I discover something new and exciting. This past weekend was no different. I decided to set out as the sun was setting so that I could get the best light for taking photos. Photos of what I do not know? That is the point of exploring, to discover the unknown.

I went into the direction of a place called Shimokawa Mountain, or that was the best I could do to translate the Kanji on the sign. It was a country ride that kept on getting smaller as I ventured in. The trees started to get ever more crowded and I started to feel like I was venturing into the forbidden forest. Which caused my mind to want to flee, but I am also a person who once commits to something wants to see were it will end. So I kept progressing forward.

Then I reached the end and what do I find, but an abandon school. It was an elementary school that I had learnt was closed because my town is slowly dying. My town at its peak had something like 20,000 people and a huge mine and forest industry. But with the closing on the mine the town began to shrink and as a result there was a lot less students. My town has gone from having 2-3 elementary schools to just 1 and that one is slowly shrinking also.

It is a problem that is happening across the board in Japan, but a high portion of it in Hokkaido. The reason is that for the longest time the government in Tokyo used government funds to more or less to buy farming votes. So while the Japan economy was doing well this was a feasible plan. But once the bubble burst they did not have the financial means to support these towns. This means less services and jobs and as a result less young couples to populate the school. So with shrinking schools and an increasing aging population base these towns are facing their demise.

The photos of the closed school are just a small bit of the buildings in Hokkaido that are slowly dying.

It was fun to explore a place that used to be filled with life and try to imagine it in its hay-day.

I hope you enjoy.

Patrick

But don’t worry, no one was hurt in the harming of this post. The jumping that was taking place, was taken place at The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 took place February 22 - March 4, 2007 in Sapporo, Japan. It is a ski jump competition held around the world to test the best of the best in the ski jump world. For those of you who don’t know what ski jumping is, it is that crazy sport were people actually willing jump of the hill in the hope of seeing who can go the farthest.

The trip to Sapporo started with a bus ride from my town. My town is famous for ski jumping. So as a result there were many people in my town that wanted to go to Sapporo to cheer on the jump team. We were able to get a package deal that made the trip very economical.

Once we got to Sapporo we made our way to Okurayama hill. This is the larger of the two ski jump areas in Sapporo and the place for the main events. The event started I think at 7 but because my town is fanatical about ski jumping, so I think we arrived there at like 3-4 pm. This was a huge shock to me as I expected us to show up just as the event was starting. As a result I didn’t have the proper clothing for staying outside so long and combined with the cold weather made for a disappointing initial opinion. I don’t mean to say I didn’t have fun, but that it was like say having a toothache and doing something you enjoy. No matter how much you enjoy the event, the pain is still there.

The first day was also disappointing for the Japan team as none of the individual athletics performed well. The Europeans dominated the event and took all the top medals. There was a Canadian team but they were not really that good and I only really cheered for them out of patriotic obligation.

After the first day we retired to our hotel and I went out with some of my teachers from my high school for a night out on Sapporo. We mostly went to an Izakaya (Japanese bar) and a ramen shop. The conversation was light and laughs were many. We talked about our shared experiences as teachers and might light matter of our generation gap when it came to cultural events. (I am 23 and most teachers are in their 30s). I had a real fun time and it is usually when you are outside of the school that you bond with your teachers or fellow co-workers. But we were tired from the first day of watching jump and so we retired around 1 am to our hotels.

The next day I woke to a knock on my door and one of my grade six students was there. He wanted to borrow my Nintendo DS, but I thought he was there to wake me up as I had missed the bus. So I rushed down stairs to learn that I was an hour early and a wee bit tired. But happy I did not miss the bus. I read the English newspaper and I talked to other people from my town.

We had free time in the morning to go around Sapporo and do some shopping. I went to the English book store and bought some books to read. Including one on hitch hiking which gave me the desire to hitch hike during golden week to Kyoto.

After our free time was up we head back to Okurayama to watch the final day of jumping for us. This was the team jump and everyone was hoping that Japan would finally show their jump expertise and win a medal. The jumping started off well for Japan and the other countries that did well in the individual competition the day before did not do too well as a team. So this meant that in the final round Japan went in with a good chance of winning the medal. After the four jumpers they were in first, but as in the last round the order in which people jump is from weakest to strongest, So that the last jumper is the best jumper from the first round. This meant that though Japan was at the top, they had to wait to see if they could hold first place. As the weaker countries jumped (Canada, Poland and Eastern European countries) they stayed in first. But when it got to Norway, Germany, Russia and the powerhouses of jumping they began to slip. Though luckily they were able to hold on to 3^rd place and secure the only medal of the competition for Japan. 3 of the 4 athletes on the team were from my town and as you can guess they were very happy. So on the bus ride home there was drinking on the bus and long speeches about the successes of the day. I did not take in on the drinking as my stomach was still recovering.

But all in all I had to say it was a good weekend and I enjoyed it. I think it made a ski jump fan out of me, or atleast made me want to not skip the channel when I watch it in Vancouver in 2010.

Thank you for reading,

Patrick

Links on jumping:

Basic Info on Ski jumping

Sapporo FIS Nordic Ski Championship

Official Sapporo Jump homepage